Comet ISON survives solar fly-by

Astronomers across the world have
been surprised by the resilience of the comet ISON, some
part of which appears to have survived its encounter with the Sun
intact.

The icy ball of matter left over from the formation of the solar
system captured the attention of the world's media as it plunged
towards the centre of the solar system, its trajectory taking it
dangerously close to our star.

Most were expecting it to vaporise from the Sun's intense heat
and tidal forces, but at least a part of the comet seems to have
survived from the latest images sent by Nasa's fleet of solar
observing spacecraft.

"We've been following this comet for a year now and all the way
it has been surprising us and confusing us," astrophysicist Karl
Battams, who operates the US space agency-funded Sungrazing Comets
Project, told the BBC.

It's too early to tell how much of the nucleus of the comet,
once two kilometres across, has survived its feat. But astronomers
are hard at work analysing the most recent images of the comet to
find out more.

Battams added: "We would like people to give us a couple of
days, just to look at more images as they come from the spacecraft,
and that will allow us to assess the brightness of the object that
we're seeing now, and how that brightness changes."